Charles Grodin is no stranger to playing dorks, dweebs, creeps or nerds. In fact he did it so often that many of us are lead to believe he truly is the character he has portrayed so many times. We all know this tale too well. A young salesman meets a nice Jewish girl in a bar and marries her. When off to their honeymoon to Miami, he discovers that she is perpetually annoying and irritating from eating Egg salad sandwiches, talking during intercourse and stubborn about his pleas for her to put on sunscreen. Enter the Flirty Cybil Shepard and all plans go to hell. I understand that much of comedy is rooted in pain and discomfort and Neil Simon understood this very well. But The Heartbreak Kid is a plot that is so aggravating and cringe-worthy that at times we really don't see the humor. Each character becomes a cliché. Jeannie Berlin's performance is admirable, but the Stereotypical Yenta is taken to its most annoying extreme. You wonder if the writer had a deep seated hatred for new York girls. Charles Grodin is far too annoying and wimpy to even relate too. When he lies to Lila in the Hotel room, trying to cover up his escapades, it's just too implausible for anyone to take seriously. It was moments like that that made this movie frustrating. Lila gets hurt, dumped and cast by the wayside. Cybil Shepard becomes the symbol of female perfection to Grodin. And the final 40 minutes is about how he pursues her shamelessly despite her father's disdain for him. I'm not sure why women would find this humorous in the least, because it casts a very negative light on their intelligence, integrity and value. I guess a guy can see the surface humor in Grodin's actions, but if you think about how truly pitiful and reckless his actions are, there's no humor at all. It's a sad tale about a man with shabby and selfish desires and the consequences of his actions. This is not funny to me at all.
Why Shepard's character is attracted to Grodin's is a mystery that doesn't get discovered. Based on her actions she is complicit in their rendezvous, and thus she is equally reprehensible. The flirting and toying with his desires shows a sheer lack of concern for his wife. It comes as a very inappropriate nuance when she utters lines, "I think you are the most decent man I've ever met." Or. "Daddy can he join us for dinner?" Moments like this reveal a true lack of maturity and social integrity. And why would the father, Eddie Albert, even offer to pay this creep money to go away? It would have been easier to fight him off or just kick him out.
Heartbreak Kid is a product of the early 1970's and the Neil Simon persuasion. Showing people in their most vulnerable, if not totally implausible, situation was a fascination for those who liked these kind of movies. The final scene where, Lenny sits on the couch telling two children his boring and odd business aspirations made them leave. And the final shot of his introspection interspersed with Mr. Corcoran's curious look of disdain was a cryptic way of telling us Lenny is a lost guy unable to live up to his ambitions.
Black comedies are problematic in that where one sees humor, another might see tragedy. So, people may laugh in the wrong places. It sort of defeats the purpose of comedy in general. Are we supposed to laugh? Cry? Get annoyed? Oh well, it's hilarious , but if you really think about it, it's not funny at all. Not the best formula for entertainment. Heartbreak kid scored 92% on the Critics score and 72% on the audience score at Rotten Tomatoes. If the Critics loved it and the audience was fairly indifferent, that should tell us something when Neil Simon and Elaine May are in the Driver's seat.
Why Shepard's character is attracted to Grodin's is a mystery that doesn't get discovered. Based on her actions she is complicit in their rendezvous, and thus she is equally reprehensible. The flirting and toying with his desires shows a sheer lack of concern for his wife. It comes as a very inappropriate nuance when she utters lines, "I think you are the most decent man I've ever met." Or. "Daddy can he join us for dinner?" Moments like this reveal a true lack of maturity and social integrity. And why would the father, Eddie Albert, even offer to pay this creep money to go away? It would have been easier to fight him off or just kick him out.
Heartbreak Kid is a product of the early 1970's and the Neil Simon persuasion. Showing people in their most vulnerable, if not totally implausible, situation was a fascination for those who liked these kind of movies. The final scene where, Lenny sits on the couch telling two children his boring and odd business aspirations made them leave. And the final shot of his introspection interspersed with Mr. Corcoran's curious look of disdain was a cryptic way of telling us Lenny is a lost guy unable to live up to his ambitions.
Black comedies are problematic in that where one sees humor, another might see tragedy. So, people may laugh in the wrong places. It sort of defeats the purpose of comedy in general. Are we supposed to laugh? Cry? Get annoyed? Oh well, it's hilarious , but if you really think about it, it's not funny at all. Not the best formula for entertainment. Heartbreak kid scored 92% on the Critics score and 72% on the audience score at Rotten Tomatoes. If the Critics loved it and the audience was fairly indifferent, that should tell us something when Neil Simon and Elaine May are in the Driver's seat.